Daily Times

The third edition of Sargodha Literary Festival (SLF) spotlighting intellectual talks, interactive sessions, art exhibition, book fest, film screening and theatre performance, kicked off at Sargodha University on Wednesday.

The event aimed at creating intellectual space for the energetic youth alluring eminent literary figures, and to inspire them to take the ownership of their literary creativities.

The Vice Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad welcomed the guests while speaking at the opening ceremony. Deputy Commissioner Sargodha Abdullah Nayyar was the chief guest of the opening ceremony.

After the inaugural, the proceedings were followed by an interactive session titled ‘Politics, Media and Society’ moderated by distinguished security and political analyst Amir Rana and renowned civic educator Zafarullah Khan. Civil servant and columnist Yasir Pirzada and well-known writer and humourist Gul Nokhaiz Akhtar were among the guest speakers who unravelled the role of media in strengthening political institutions and creating robust civic engagement.

An award-winning feature film “Art= (Love)2” a whirlwind story of love, death and closure, directed by Mumtaz Hussain was also screened for the first time in Sargodha at Shaheen Cinema. The show left the audience mesmerized with strong script and powerful acting.

Usman Peerzada, legendary actor, producer and director chaired a session ‘From Script to Screen: The Art of Creative Production’ moderated by Mariam Ikram while award-winning film director Mumtaz Hussain and Rashid Khawja participated as keynote speakers.

The speakers from entertainment industry shared their experiences to reveal the art of creative production from its conception of idea to final execution with an essential element of creativity.

As part of this festival, the Lincoln Corner Sargodha hosted a session chaired by Mian Ijaz ul Hassan, on ‘Landscape of Punjab,’ during which Dr Rahat Masaud, Dr Naela Amir, and Nadeem Alam discussed the landscapes of Punjab.

A painting exhibition, portraying the scenic beauty of Punjab through canvasses of various painters across Punjab was also part of this festival. About 25 artists across Punjab showcased Punjab’s Landscape through paintings.

Cultivating the reading culture, a book fest with wide range of books on special discount was also held at Jinnah Block. The grand book exhibition unfolded books of more than 30 publishers.

A theatrical performance of the students of English Department on the Shakespeare play ‘Macbeth’ dramatizing the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambitions of those who seek power for its own sake, directed by Shahid Abbas and Sidra Sharif mesmerized the audience.

It is pertinent to mention here that SLF has become the tradition of the Sargodha University where erudite scholars, renowned authors, learned academics, literary enthusiasts, ingenious poets and performing artists shared their valuable insights and passion for art and literature, social science and various disciplines. It also provided a platform to the students to voice their views and interact with other professionals and learn in the process.